How Bad Does Your Heart Hurt?
by nomiann
Summary: Prue's revival affects all of the Halliwell sisters, especially Piper, whose heart has been broken more times than she could count. Unable to keep up with the pain, she ends up drunk on the couch in the middle of the night and Prue gives her a talk.


**Long story short, I was inspired when I was watching the third to last (or was it second to last?) episode of Season 4. I was telling my friend how awesome it would be to actually chat with a drunk Piper on our RPG, and then I got inspired to write this. It's based off of the storyline of the Charmed boards my friends and I created. Still confused? I suggest you join these wonderfully spoken about boards! :D www. spiritualnexus. freeforums. org (no spaces though.) **

How Bad Does Your Heart Hurt?

It was late. Well, maybe early. Whatever it was, Prue just couldn't sleep. There were too many things going on in her head and she just couldn't shove them away. She was either an insomniatic now or someone was awake at this hour. She had this way of sensing when she wasn't the last one to head to bed.

Tossing and turning did her no good. She just got all sweaty and hot. Of course, by two in the morning, neither did a book. Coming back to the real world really had this strong affect on her. It could be the fact that sleep didn't exist in the afterlife and she just couldn't get used to it. But it could also be the continuous snapping at Paige and the arguments that would result.

Prue had her job now, and she resumed her role as eldest Halliwell in the Manor. Nobody outside of the Manor had any knowledge of Prue's death or funeral. Somehow, her sisters had managed to bring her back, without any permission from her. Sure, it was good to be back and she had missed her sisters dearly, but so many things were different. And change was good, it was one of Prue's favorite sayings. But maybe some things, such as Prue Halliwell, were meant to stay buried. Literally. Things happened for a reason, and Prue thought that maybe after nearly three years of staying a spirit, she would be staying one forever. Not in a million years had she thought that the Elders would come up with a spell to revive dead Prue. Now that...was a joke.

A glass of cool water sounded nice just about after three in the morning. Prue just couldn't take it anymore. The thoughts that were roaming inside her head gave her a headache and she almost felt like that empath she had become years ago; she couldn't get the voices and thought out. Fortunately, everyone suddenly stopped talking when she spotted someone on the couch in the living room. But what did surprise her was who the person was.

"Piper?" she asked, not sure of herself.

"Hey! Pruey!"

Something was awfully wrong. This wasn't right. Piper was never up at three in the morning, and certainly not this cheerful then. "Piper?" Prue decided to repeat.

"Come here, silly goose." Piper patted down the seat beside her, still all smiles.

Raising an eyebrow, Prue crossed her arms over her chest. For a split second, she considered getting her glass of water and getting the hell out of there. Unfortunately, the mother inside of her wouldn't allow her to just take off like that. Prue cared too much. "Piper, have you been drinking?" Prue asked, narrowing her eyes and getting closer to the couch.

"No. No!" The younger sister exclaimed, waving her hand carelessly. "No!"

Sighing, Prue pushed down Piper's hand and sat down beside her. "Honey, what are you doing?"

"Pruey, come on. Have a drink. Loosen up. You don't do enough of that between our demon ass kicking sessions." Piper was already pulling out the vodka bottle and her own glass. When she glanced at Prue's frown, she pulled back. "Oh, did you want the bottle? Here." She pushed the big glass bottle towards her sister.

There was no other way to do this but play along. Prue grabbed the bottle and made sure Piper couldn't get at it. Then, she took the glass out of Piper's hand and leaned her back on the back cushion of the couch. "Piper, what are you doing? Why are you doing this to yourself?" Prue asked softly.

Suddenly Piper wasn't so talkative and smiley. She flung her fingers out from her hand as if in attempt to freeze her sister. Nothing happened, naturally. Prue just wasn't sure what would happen if Piper tried blowing her up, and she wasn't about to take that chance. Just to be sure, Prue took Piper's hands in her own. She tried again. "What's going on, Piper? What are you trying to drink yourself away?"

"Oh, like you've never tried making yourself feel good when something's bad," Piper mumbled, flitting at Prue's tight grasp.

But Prue wasn't kidding. She was dead serious, no pun intended. "Piper Halliwell, this isn't the way to deal with anything. I've learned that the hard way."

"Screw you, Prudence Halliwell," the other spat out and turned her head from Prue.

Something was obviously bothering Piper, and it was affecting her greatly. Prue hoped that all Piper had to drink was that near empty big bottle of vodka; any more and Piper could land in the hospital. Seeing how immediate her sister reacted to her touch, Prue laid her hand on Piper's cheek and turned her face. "Look at me, honey." When Piper had no choice but to look, she kept her head low and glare at Prue. Ok, Prue was the object of Piper's...anger, or...drunken state. "Why are you doing this? What's wrong?"

Piper could only continue glaring at Prue for a long and silent minute. Nothing else. No fidgeting, no speaking, and hardly even breathing. This wasn't the Piper that Prue left behind. In fact, it was _nothing_ like the Piper Prue had left behind. "You," Piper finally said. "It's all your fault."

"Piper, what is? Come on, you've got to tell me more than that so I can help you."

"You don't want to help me. You don't care."

Frowning, Prue left go of Piper's hands. "Of course I care. I'm your sister."

"If you were my sister and cared, you never would have left in the first place."

Ah, so that was the problem. But why would Piper express her pain now? Or has this been keeping up? Impossible. "What's really bothering you, sweetheart? You know I had no choice but to leave. But now I'm back and I'm hanging on forever."

"No!" Piper exclaimed and scrunched up her face. "You're not! You're going to leave me again and you'll never come back. You don't even like it here, you said so."

Prue couldn't believe that what she had said almost a week ago was being remembered by Piper now. "Piper, I've come to accept my new destiny. And it's to be here with you girls. Maybe I wasn't so fond of coming back at first, but that doesn't mean I would desert you."

"Liar!" Piper slurred. "Just admit it. You left us because you hated us. Because we reminded you too much of Mom."

Prue was left stunned and speechless. It was like Piper was saying the first thing that came to mind. She was definitely hurting badly, but did she really have to bring their mother into the conversation?

"See? I hit a nerve. It's all about Mom. It's always about Mom. No wonder you wish we didn't bring you back, you loved hanging out with Mom up there."

"Piper, that's not it. This is not you. This is your drunk self speaking. You don't mean what you're saying," Prue coaxed her sister gently.

"Like you know what I'm thinking. Or feeling, for that matter. Don't you get it, Prue? You. Left. Me. Alone. You swore that nothing was going to keep the three of us apart. You promised that you would never leave the Power of Three, no matter what. Well, you know what, sis? Ya did," replied Piper hotly.

Weird how even drunk, Piper was making sense and she was thinking. And although she'd exerted most of her pain at and after Prue's funeral, seeing the eldest just caused her more pain. So why the hell did they revive her if even Piper couldn't handle it?

Prue pushed the hair from Piper's dark eyes behind her ear. "Piper, if I had been left a choice, I would have chosen the one that didn't require me dying. It was my greatest fear that I would be separated from you and Phoebe, without being able to contact you somehow. Well, my fear came true, and you have to believe me that I fought to stay with you. Even in front of the Elders, I begged on my knees that they wouldn't leave my sisters alone on earth."

"Sorry to break it to you, but they kinda did just that."

"No, they didn't. So maybe they didn't give me back to you, but they certainly never left you alone. They gave you Paige, another sister you probably never would have found if I hadn't died. Paige had a crappy life up until she was feeling inclined to attend my funeral. If it wasn't for your and Phoebe's love for her, she wouldn't be this person today," Prue explained, stroking Piper's hair softly. At least she was listening.

"You hate her."

Taking in a deep breath, Prue shook her head. "I don't hate her, Piper. We have our issues, and we're dealing with them the way we know for now, but I certainly don't hate my sister."

"Then why do you keep arguing? And don't you dare deny it, but you're usually the one who starts getting lippy. She tries to be civil, and you act like her mother," Piper said, shrugging.

"You're so lucky your're drunk right now and you'll forget everything in the morning," muttered the eldest sister and took Piper's hand then squeezed it tightly. "I snap at her so often because I'm not thinking, and all that goes through my head is the fact that Paige was here these three years, living the present with you and Pheebs, while I wasn't even allowed to watch."

Grinning and pointing a shaky finger at Prue, Piper said, "Is Prue Halliwell jealous?"

Prue rolled her eyes. While it was easier to talk to drunk Piper than sober Piper without interruptions, drunk Piper's mind was intoxicated and will definitely be remarking either random or childish things. "You could say that. Anyway, bottom line, I don't hate Paige. It's quite the opposite. I feel protective of you three."

"Well, you're certainly not our mother. That water demon killed her, remember?"

Now _that _was what would normally cause Prue to experience heart-wrenching pain, and Piper did just that to her. Prue knew it wasn't on purpose, because a remark like that would usually quiet Piper down. But still...she said it. The hardest time in her adult like had been when Prue and her sisters went after that water demon and managed to kill it. But bringing up the fact that their mother was killed by it only brought back Prue's other greatest fear: drowning.

Shuddering, and pushing the thought as far from her mind as possible, Prue began, "I know I'm not your mother, but it's my job to look after you guys. It's my destiny. Well, beside my other destiny, the one where we vanquish demons and such." This caused Piper to giggle as she tucked her legs underneath her on the couch and laid her head on Prue's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Prudence. I know you don't like it when either me or Pheebs are drinking this much."

Prue held on to her sister tightly, as if holding on for dear life. "I'm sorry too, Pipes. I'm sorry I caused you all this pain and misery. I'm sorry my death turned you into a Fury. I'm even sorry that I came back now."

Piper's head went up as if remembering something. "I remember being a Fury. I was angry that you left me to be the oldest sister and I hated you because I had no idea how to fill in for you. And it wasn't that I was mad at the whole world, I was just mad at you. My heart was broken and it hurt bad."

"Badly," Prue corrected, smiling when Piper laid her head back down. "This is my second chance, Piper, and it probably happened because of you. You're the heart of the family. I don't plan on leaving again."

"Promise?"

Prue had no idea what would happen to Piper if Prue faced Death again unexpectedly. If Piper still hadn't recovered after two years and a half, then the pain of losing her older sister would be unbearable. "I promise, Piper, I promise. Now you've got to promise to me that you'll never get this drunk again. I don't want you risking your health."

"Why?" she asked stupidly. Her mind was blurring and couldn't think straight anymore.

"You have Leo and you have little Wyatt. I'm sure neither of them would want you to drink yourself away like this. You don't want to cause them the pain I caused, do you?"

"No!"

"Exactly."

Suddenly, Piper sat up again and embraced her sister, taking her by surprise. Prue eventually wrapped her arms around Piper and smiled. This was what she had missed most. The sister-to-sister talks, even if one of the sisters was drunk. She didn't miss San Francisco, she didn't miss her powers, hell, she didn't even miss her sisters as much as the bonding they did.

"Prue?"

"Hm?"

"I love you."

"Me too."

Piper stopped hugging so tightly. "I love you," she said more firmly.

"Piper, me too." Prue didn't even realize that she was doing it again. Not saying those three words back. She broke through that fear of losing someone again if she said them, like she did with her mother, but now she feared that it would definitely be the last thing she ever said to her sisters. Because it _was _the last thing she said to Piper before...Oh, God, it was all coming back to her now. Their exposure, the media, the crazy lady with a gun, Piper's death...But if Piper died, there was no way Leo could have brought her back unless...Phoebe, Leo, and Cole were in the Underworld when it happened so they must have made a deal with Tempus! It all made sense now! Why couldn't Prue realize it earlier? Did the Elders not want her to remember?

"No, Prue. _I love you_," Piper repeated, looking Prue in the eye this time.

Prue took another deep breath and shifted her eyes away from a moment. But her green eyes found Piper's brown ones quickly. "I love you too, Piper," Prue said, careful to pronounce every syllable sharply. There, she said it. So help them God if something happened to any of them. Including Paige. "And I promise to always say that to you guys in case something ever happens."

Piper looked confused now. She cocked her head to the side. "I don't get it..." she slurred again, but more pronounced this time. Her eyes were slowly closing.

Letting out a breathy chuckle, Prue took her sister in her arms again until Piper fell unconscious. It was about damn time too. Poor Piper must have been forcing herself to stay awake just to be sure she'd be comforted by Prue's presence somehow. Well, it worked. Whatever Prue said definitely gave Piper peace of mind, and Prue wasn't even sure herself what she had said; she was exhausted now. Talking to her sister about this had given her peace of mind as well, and Prue actually couldn't wait to get to bed.

Looking over at Piper, who was breathing deeply beside her, Prue decided that she would sleep on the couch with her sister that night. She had a feeling that not only was Piper going to have forgotten this conversation in the morning, but would have have a terrible hangover. Still, if hard liquor was the only way to get Piper to open up this much...No, wait, Prue couldn't even think about finishing that sentence. It was too big of a jinx.


End file.
